Now, we know that’s a big claim to make in the age of social media. We might even get a few “how dare yous” thrown our way because of it. But we’re willing to face the ridicule to stand up for what we believe in.
Email is considered a much more secure and trustworthy medium than, say, Facebook (no surprise there). Here are a few more stats to get you thinkin’ – or rethinkin’ – where you’re placing your time and hard-earned dollars when it comes to marketing.
Astronomical Email Stats
Email Users Worldwide: 3.9 billion (Statista)
Emails Sent/Received Daily: 306.4 billion (Statista)
Still not convinced, huh? Oh, you will be. We’re just scratching the surface here.
Keep reading, my friend. You’re about to be SCHOOLED.
Contents
Why Email Marketing is More Effective Than Social Media Marketing
Email marketing is more effective than social media marketing because it’s inexpensive, helps you build authentic relationships with your leads and customers, converts, nurtures leads, offers a high ROI, and is the most-used channel.
But don’t take our word for it. Let’s do a deep dive into each of these categories and look at the research to back our claims. Here we go!
1. Email is the Most-Used Channel
Like we said above, email has around 3x the number of user accounts as Facebook and Twitter combined. Not only that but if you add up the number of posts shared on these two social channels, they add up to about 0.2% of the total number of emails sent on the daily (Neil Patel).
That’s excluding the spam – the ugly side of email. But that usually ends up in a junk folder that you never have to look at anyway.
99% of email users check their email every single day (we know you’re one of them). Sometimes we check our email up to 20x per day!
Guilty.
2. Email Marketing is Inexpensive and Has Amazing ROI
Email marketing can give you a 4,200% return on investment. In other words, you invest a buck and get back $42. That’s a higher ROI than any other marketing channel offers by a longshot.
We’ll admit that social media comes in handy to support your email marketing efforts. Let’s say you shoot out an email to your list the week of Black Friday. It’s filled with great products and dope deals.
Before people starting handing over their credit card number, they may hop on your social media channels to check out reviews, comments, and other interactions to see if you look legit. If you do, they’ll have more incentive to buy from you.
You see, when your social media and email are willing to work nicely together, you end up with more money in your pocket. Ding ding ding!
3. You Can Build Real Relationships
People like to get to know brands before buying from them. Email is an effective way to nurture leads and build trust over time. You remember the know-like-trust factor, right? Treat people with respect, send them valuable content, and let them get to know you and see how trustworthy you are.
Email newsletters are the highest-performing type of content for nurturing leads. So it’s worth investing time into sharing great content with subscribers. Before you know it, you’ll have a list of loyal followers (what we like to call “hot leads”) who can’t wait to buy what you offer.
4. You Own Your Lists
With social media channels like Instagram and Facebook, you must rely on the unpredictability of the algorithms. You’re at the mercy of whoever owns the platform.
You might have 100,000 followers on Instagram or 5,000 Likes on Facebook, but if you want to reach them, you need to pay the big bucks. And you never know how the heck anything will turn out in the end. You aren’t in control. (Thanks, Mark.)
With email, you OWN your lists. You get to control who you send your stuff to. Your emails will make it safely to your recipient’s inboxes (other than the 0.7% of emails that bounce), empowering over 99% of your subscribers to read your content if they so choose.
Compare that to Facebook, where only about 5.5% of your audience will spot your posts in their feed.
5. Engagement is Higher
Engagement is also a sad metric for social media, with the average hanging around less than one percent. With email, you can get around 20% of your recipients to open your emails and 3.7% to click on your links to engage further.
6. A Cute Little Activity We’ve Coined “The Morning Check”
What’s that, you ask? It just means that people like to check their email in the morning – before looking at anything else. OptinMonster found that 58% of us check our email, compared to 14% who check social media, first thing in the A.M.
7. Mucha Oportunidad de SALES
Excuse our bit of Spanglish there. We just wanted to make sure you were paying attention before we tell you about the opportunity email presents for turning your leads into sales.
Let’s compare the whopping 60% of consumers who make purchases because of the marketing emails they receive versus the 12.5% who say they might consider pushing the “buy” button on a social media platform.
Nuff said.
8. You Can Be as Personal as You Want
Not in a creepy way. In a good, friendly, “I’m going to be your next best friend” way. Okay, that may come off a little creepy to people you don’t know.
What I’m trying to say is you can personalize your emails to make people feel welcome, special, known, understood, and connected. You can create a community of followers by building relationships with them through trust and great content.
Throw out a “Hey, Melanie!” or “I wanted you to be the first to hear about this, Joe.” Talking directly to the people on your list will draw them in and capture their attention.
On social, you can’t address each of your followers individually unless you’re sending a direct message. Boy, that’d be a lot of work. It’s also not as professional as sending a business email, either.
We’re all grownups here. Let’s start acting like it.
9. You Can Conduct Tests to Improve Rates
Ever hear of an A/B test? How about testing different subject lines and text previews? Or comparing different send times? Or conducting a blind taste test?
Just kidding on that last one. This isn’t The Great British Baking Show, after all.
You have tons of tests you can conduct via email to learn what works well and what you should leave safely in the past. Here’s a quick list for you to try:
- Personalization
- Segmenting your lists
- Subject lines
- Preview text
- Body copy content or length
- CTAs
- Images
- Send times
Don’t be afraid to take some chances here. You’ll quickly learn what works and what doesn’t.
Reach for the stars, and you’ll get the moon thrown in. Or as the Brits say, shoot for Star Baker and avoid soggy bottoms.
10. You Can Segment Your Lists to Target Specific People
Based on previous actions your contacts have made, you can split your lists into segments to send more personalized and relevant content to different groups.
If you have some people who consistently open your emails and click on your links, maybe they’re ready for a more direct sales pitch.
If you have a group that only opens every fifth email and rarely clicks on anything, you may need to continue offering them free, valuable content to build more trust. Or perhaps it’s time to run a re-engagement campaign to get them excited about your brand again.
However you choose to split your lists, you have more control via email than social media. Sure, you can target specific demographics on Facebook or LinkedIn, but it can be challenging to study individual behavior and personalize your messaging. Email allows you to do just that – and do it well.
Generate More Leads with Email Marketing
You don’t have to go it alone. Without the right strategies in place, your email marketing will fall flat. But if you use all the magical tips and tricks we’ve outlined in this article, your email campaigns will soar, taking your business to new heights.
Fingerprint Marketing is a digital marketing agency in Seattle, Washington. We’d love to work with you if you’re local or live on the other side of the country. Or even in another country.
Reach out if you’d like to generate more leads, drive quality traffic to your website, and convert more customers through email marketing!
Trust the wizards. Book a complimentary discovery call with our team today!
